Is this pure fantasy or a call to action?
At the beginning of 2005 there were close to 4.3 million
SMEs in the UK (DTI figures), accounting for £1,226
billion turnover and 58.7% of all employment. Not so small
when looked at in those terms and a big opportunity for
SMEs to punch above their weight through collaboration.
So many of the gadgets we take for granted and the brand
names that form the wallpaper of our lives have their
origins in the work of entrepreneurs, inventors and small
business start-ups. Bicycles, biros, the telephone, fax
machines, soap, light bulbs, electricity, the PC,
television, the printing press and many more are all the
products of individuals and small businesses.
Even corporations start small. Heinz owes its existence to
Henry John Heinz, born in Pittsburgh in 1844, the son of
German immigrants who began selling produce from the family
garden at the age of 12. Or closer to home there's Boots,
started by John Boot a farm labourer and his wife Mary in
1849, to provide herbal remedies to the needy. We have all
heard of Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard who started their
business in the now famous California garage in 1939,
making an electronic testing machine that they first sold
to Disney. But what about Joseph Cyril Bamford, who
started off in a garage in the Midlands making a trailer
from war surplus with a 50 shilling welder? Does JCB ring
a bell?
Today's small businesses are the seedbeds of tomorrow's
global corporations, just as they have always been, but
will history repeat itself in exactly the same way? What
has changed? Deep down, we all know that our lifestyles
and business practices are unsustainable; the problem is
that we don't know what to do about it. Without realising
it, most of us are caught up in the mechanistic mindset
that has created our economic model and enforces our sense
of separation from each other and the living systems of
which we are a part. As Einstein said, "We cannot solve
problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we
created them." We have to evolve our consciousness beyond
the machine mind that created the modern world.
As small businesses, we can wait for a trickle-down of new
practices from large corporations or for legislation to
tell us what to do, or we can seize the initiative and
create our own success in line with our long, rich
tradition of growth and innovation. The first step is to
adopt a new way of thinking; a new consciousness or
worldview in which we recognize our interdependence and
that connection to a larger purpose is critical for
personal and professional success.
Far from idealistic thinking, this 'new consciousness'
recognises the challenges of the real world and the
business climate and shows us how to move beyond its
limitations. For small businesses this is less about
competing with large corporations and more about building
on strengths, creativity, collaboration and effective use
of new technology. As Don Tapscott says in his book
Wikinomics, "Billions of connected individuals can now
actively participate in innovation, wealth creation, and
social development in ways we once only dreamed of. And
when these masses of people collaborate they collectively
can advance the arts, culture, science, education,
government, and the economy in surprising but ultimately
profitable ways. Companies that engage with these exploding
Web-enabled communities are already discovering the true
dividends of collective capability and genius."
We already live in the MySpace, YouTube, Facebook world,
but we have yet to realise the creative potential of these
communities in the small business context and at the moment
it all seems a bit 'pie in the sky.' Closer to home, do we
recognize our own creative potential, or that of our
employees? This is the place to start because we cannot
see in others what we do not see in ourselves. Creativity
and the ability to find sustainable solutions to fuel
tomorrow's successful enterprises will not be found in
profit and loss accounts or business processes 'the
mechanics of the business'. It only exists when people are
asked to reach for a higher human purpose.
We can look at climate change, financial turmoil and
globalisation as a threat to our existence or we can see it
as an opportunity for transformation. This of itself may
not change the world order, but it will make our day-to-day
lives more fulfilling and our businesses more successful.
Where would you like your business to be five years from
now?
----------------------------------------------------
Yolanda Dolling helps businesses reduce costs and increase
sales through partnership and collaboration.
For more on how to grow your business without destroying
yourself or the planet, go to:
http://www.advizory.com
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